27

Feb

2014

India’s National Optic Fiber Network (NOFN) backbone project

The NOFN project aims to connect over 250,000 gram panchayats (local government institutions in villages or small towns) across India. The aim is to sow the seeds for an e-revolution in the rural parts of the country by empowering the nation to provide better e-governance, e-health services, and educational services at the grass roots level. Scheduled to be complete by September 2015, the project will provide high-speed broadband Internet to all 250,000 gram panchayats with speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

The NOFN project is being rolled out by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), the special-purpose vehicle setup under India's Department of Telecom. BBNL has divided the project into six packages – East, West, North, South, Central, and Northeast – and separate bids have been accepted in each of the six zones. The total value of this project has been set at $3.3 billion.